A Million Doorways

by K. Martin Beckner

  “Sounds like fun, I guess, but better you than me.”

  Ethan thanked Simon again then followed Cynthia on his bike.

  “You want to get a bite to eat?” asked Ethan. “I haven’t ate anything all day.”

  “Yeah, I’m kind of hungry myself. Just ate a bowl of corn flakes this morning.”

  “They’ve got some pretty good food at the drug store diner,” said Ethan. “You want to go there.”

  “I don’t know,” said Cynthia. “I’m kind of afraid. Didn’t you say the Bell Witch’s granddaughter worked there?”

  Ethan barked a laugh and said, “You’re crazy. You were right, by the way. I looked through that book last night. It doesn’t make much sense that she could be related to the Bell Witch. I don’t think anyone really knows much about who the witch really was. I’m sure you’ll like the waitress, though. She just likes to talk a lot. She even told me she dated your dad at one time, years ago.”

  “That’s the first I’ve heard of it. But I guess we could eat there as long as you think it’s safe.”

  The two were giggling at their inside joke as they walked into the drug store.

  “Well, bless my heart,” said Frances Batts, when she saw them walking into the store. “Come on come over here and get a table. Ain’t y’all just cutest couple.”

  Ethan felt embarrassed, his face lighting up. He was afraid that Cynthia would think he had told Frances they were dating. The two picked a booth and sat down.

  “Why don’t I fix a tall malt and put two straws in it like we used to do when I was your age. I think that would just be the sweetest thing. If I had my camera with me, I’d take a picture of y’all sipping out of it together.”

  Ethan was beginning to regret suggesting the drug store, and he could tell Cynthia was embarrassed too. “We’re kind of hungry,” he said. “Maybe we’ll just get a burger or something.”

  “I tell you what would be better than a burger,” said Frances. “Our BLT is the best thing we got here. The cook’s off today, so it’s just me. They work me like a dog sometimes. I may walk out if we get too many lunch customers. I’ll throw on some extra bacon and make it a real sandwich. It goes better with chips than fries.”

  “That sounds great to me,” said Ethan.

  “I’ll have one too,” said Cynthia.

  In a short while Frances returned with their orders. The BLTs were piled high with bacon. There were only two other customers in the restaurant, an older man and woman who seemed more interested in coffee and cigarettes than in eating, so Frances stood and talked to Ethan and Cynthia.

  “I guess Ethan may have already mentioned it to you,” said Frances, puffing on a cigarette, but I’m related to the Bell Witch. That’s what I’ve always been told, anyway.”

  “Yeah, he did mention it,” said Cynthia, immediately covering her mouth with her napkin as though she had to cough. Ethan could tell she was trying not to laugh. “That’s really interesting. I wish I was related to someone so famous.”

  “You know, I used to date your father when we were in high school. If I had been smart, I would have hung onto him, and I don’t care if you tell him I said so. I dated a loser and went on to smaller and worser things. Back then I always pictured myself becoming rich and famous. I’m still hoping that some sort of Lawrence of Arabia shows up here one day and carries me out of this place, out of this small one-horse town. All these old women want to do around here is sit around and gossip. I’d like to tell some of them to kiss my rear end.”

  “Maybe you will be famous someday,” said Cynthia.

  “I seriously doubt it, but I can always hope.”

  “Of course,” said Cynthia.

  “I suppose it could be worse,” said Frances, pausing long enough to blow cigarette smoke into the air. “I was talking to a poor woman in here the other day whose husband just up and left her, didn’t even give her a clue he wasn’t happy until he told her he was leaving. She’s new to town, so she don’t know a soul except her son, poor thing. I wish I could get a hold of that sorry bastard husband of hers—excuse my language.”

  “I bet I know who you’re talking about,” said Ethan. “Me and her son have become pretty good friends here lately. Is her name Sophia Foster?”

  “Yes, that’s her. I guess that’s what it’s like in a small town. Everybody knows who you are even if you just got there. She’s invited me over tonight for a few drinks and some girl talk. Poor thing needs somebody’s shoulder to cry on, might as well be mine.”

  “I may see you after while then,” said Ethan. “I’m going over there later to see what Daniel’s up to.”

  “That would be wonderful,” said Frances. “And I’m glad to see you are starting to make friends in this town. You see, you’ll be adjusted in no time.”

  After they had finished eating and listening to Frances Batts talk, Ethan walked Cynthia home. Later that day, not mentioning to his mom that Miss Green was going to be away for a few days, he packed a few things, including a pair of swimming trunks, and headed over to Daniel’s house. He found his new friend in the yard shooting baskets.

  “How’s it going, Ethan?” said Daniel, suddenly tossing him the basketball.

  “Doing great,” said Ethan, catching the basketball and shooting it toward the goal. The ball hit the rim but bounced away.

  “Nice reflexes, but you definitely need some practice hitting the basket.

  “Mellow out, Dude,” said Ethan. “It was my first try. If I did have a little practice, though, you couldn’t beat me at a game of Horse.”

  “Sounds like a challenge to me,” said Daniel.

  The two boys talked while playing the game.

  “I unexpectedly got the next three nights off,” said Ethan, “so I thought I’d see if you were going to be around.”

  “That’s just too cool,” said Daniel. “Of course I’m going to be around. Why don’t you just stay here. That is if your mom don’t care. I’m sure my mom will be glad to have you over.”

  “Mom don’t know I got three nights off, so I can pretty much do what I want. She never talks to Miss Green, so I’m safe.”

  “Great then, it’s settled. Why don’t we go swimming?”

  “Perfect idea,” said Ethan, shooting the basketball from a good distance to the side of the basket. The ball missed its target.

  “I thought you said you could beat me,” said Daniel.

  “I said with a little practice I could.”

  “Whatever you say,” said Daniel, running up and shooting the ball from underneath, which went into the goal.

  “Darn,” said Ethan. He tried the same move but missed, which earned Daniel the final letter to spell horse. “You just wait till next time. I’ll win for sure.”

  “I’m trembling already.”

  The two boys made their way back to the pond and swam until the sky was nearly dark. When they got back to the house there was an older red convertible Chevy Impala parked in the driveway. Ethan Remembered that Frances had said she was coming over. Approaching the house, they could hear laughter and “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival playing very loudly.

  “Y’all come on in and join the party,” said Sophia. “Me and Frances have been cutting loose and drowning our sorrows.”

  “Sophia is loads of fun,” said Frances. I’m so glad I came over. I’ve been telling her about how cute you and your girlfriend were today.”

  “Yeah,” said Sophia. “We’ve been having so much fun that Frances called some of her friends to come over and make a real party out of it.” She filled a shot glass with Jack Daniel’s whiskey and handed it to Ethan. “Try a sip of this. That’ll loosen you up some. You’re about as uptight as Daniel.”

  Ethan reluctantly took a sip but immediately spit it out across the room.

  “Let’s get out of here and go downstairs,” said Daniel, appearing to be very irritated by the whole thing.

  “Party poopers!” Sophia yelled above the music as the boy
s walked down the steps to the basement.

  When they got downstairs Daniel lay face down on the waterbed with a pillow over his head. Ethan didn’t know what to say, so he sat down beside him and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

  Daniel rolled over and said, “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I’m sorry about my mom. She was never like this before my dad left us. I think she’s gone crazy.”

  “It’s okay. I want to stay. I think you need a friend right now. I know what it’s like to have your whole life turned upside down, so who better to have around than me.”

  “You know, I think it’s a miracle we met,” said Daniel. “I needed a friend like you to come along. I felt like nobody cared about me before.”

  “Yeah, It’s a miracle,” said Ethan. “I was beginning to think I wouldn’t have any friends around here. I don’t know how much sleep we’ll get tonight with all the noise upstairs, but I’ll stay with you.”

  “You’re a real pal,” said Daniel.

  “Thanks, you are too. Now, why don’t we break out that TV game again.”

  The friends lay facedown on the sloshy waterbed playing Pong, as the party upstairs got louder and louder, until they finally drifted off to sleep.

  “Help!” Ethan heard Daniel yell, startling him awake. He sat up on the side of the bed and wiped his eyes. Morning sunlight shined timidly through the small basement windows. “It’s Mom; I can’t wake her up.” Feeling suddenly alarmed by his friend’s tone of voice, he quickly ran up the stairs.

  He found Daniel in the living room crying and shaking his mom. There were empty beer cans and whiskey bottles scattered all about on the floor and furniture. “What do we do?” asked Daniel, pleadingly. “I think she’s had too much. I don’t know why she won’t wake up.”

  “Did you call for help?” asked Ethan.

  “No, I’m crazy. I can’t even think straight. Will you call an ambulance?”

  Ethan picked up the phone on the kitchen wall. “Where’s the emergency number?” he yelled to Daniel.

  “I’m not sure. The phone book is in the drawer below the phone.”

  Ethan nervously thumbed through the phone book, found the emergency number, and called for an ambulance. He then went back to the living room to help Daniel. He felt Sophia’s wrist for a pulse. “She’s got a pulse,” he said, finally. “It’s weak, but she’s got one. Maybe she’s just having a bad hangover.”

  “I hope that’s it,” said Daniel. “I couldn’t find her pulse, so I was afraid she’d died or something. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here. I was too scared to even call the police—the ambulance, I mean.”

  “I think she’s going to be okay.”

  “Thanks for your help,” said Daniel, starting to cry. “I’d have been so scared here by myself. I don’t know what I’m going to do with her. Oh, I hope she’s okay. This is Dad’s fault. She was just a regular mom before he abandoned us. He better not come around here for a while, is all I got to say. I’m going to have it out with him next time I see him.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be okay,” said Ethan.

  “I feel a lot better knowing she’s got a pulse, so thankful you were able to find it.”

  In a short time they heard sirens blaring, and soon after that the house was filled with emergency personnel, including two ambulance drivers, the town deputy, and four volunteer firefighters who had heard about the call on their scanners.

  Daniel rode away in the ambulance with his mom. Under Daniel’s instructions, after quickly changing clothes and retrieving his bag, Ethan locked the house up and hid the key under a flowerpot on the small front porch. He felt a bit depressed as he slowly pedaled his bike towards downtown. What would become of his new friend if Sophia weren’t okay? Daniel would probably end up having to move away somewhere, and that would likely be the last he ever saw of him. When he got to the square, for a moment he thought of getting a bite to eat at the drugstore, but he quickly changed his mind. He was a little bit mad at the Bell Witch. He felt like it was kind of her fault that Sophia drank so much; she encouraged it anyway. He rode his bike a little further up the road and bought a burger and fries at the Frosty Freeze. He was glad he did. Their burgers are better anyway, he thought.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Sandy asked Ethan that evening, as he nibbled on his pork chops and mash potatoes. “You haven’t hardly said a word since I got home.”

  “It’s nothing,” said Ethan. “I just don’t feel the best.”

  “Well, it looks like something to me. You’ve barely touched your food.”

  “Oh, I’m just worried about my friend’s mom. She had to go the hospital today.”

  “I didn’t know you had any friends here. You’ve never said anything about it.”

  “It’s just this guy, Daniel, I’ve been talking to in town. We’re getting to be pretty good friends.” He didn’t want to get too detailed since he had never told his mom about staying at Daniel’s house.

  “It’d be nice if you kept me updated on your life every once in a while,” said Sandy. “I’ve been concerned about you making friends. I know it’s hard when you first move to a new town. I had to move several times when I was growing up.

  “What’s wrong with his mother, anyway?”

  “He just had trouble waking her up this morning, so he called an ambulance, and they took her to the hospital.”

  “Who is his mother?”

  “Sophia. Her and Daniel clean Miss Green’s house.”

  “Okay, so that’s how you know them.”

  Ethan let her think that.

  “I hope she’s okay,” Sandy continued.

  “Mom,” said Ethan, a new thought on his mind. “Do you care if I raise some bees?”

  “What in the world brought that on? We’re talking about someone in the hospital one second and bees the next.”

  “There’s this old man that sits in front of Square Deal. Me and him’s been talking about bees, and he said he would give me some hives and help me set them up. Miss Green has bees, you know. She showed them to me, and the bees seem to like me. I may even be what they call a bee charmer.”

  “You need to start talking more,” said Sandy. “Here you got all this wild stuff going on that I knew nothing about. Now you’re a bee charmer?”

  “Do you care if I do?” repeated Ethan.

  “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

  “Come on, Mom. He’s going to give me the hive.”

  “There’s more to it than that. You don’t even have one of those bee suits. I’m sure they cost a pretty penny.”

  “I don’t need a suit for that.”

  “Oh yes you do. Those bees will sting you to death.”

  “They didn’t sting me at Miss Green’s”

  “You’ll have a bee suit or no bees.”

  “Does that mean I can have them if I get a bee suit? I can use the money I made to buy one.”

  “I don’t know. I want to talk to this man first. What’s his name?”

  “Simon Green”

  “Let me talk to him and see what you’ll be getting into.”

  “Please, Mom.”

  “I said I’d think about it. I just need to look into it first.”

  “I think he said he might come over tomorrow,” said Ethan. “That way he can show us how the hives work.” He was sure that his mom would be okay with it once she talked to Simon. Usually when she said she’d think about something, it meant that she was going to make him wait a little while before she finally gave in.

  After helping his mom clean up the dishes, he rode away on his bike as though he were going to Miss Green’s. He figured he’d go to Daniel’s and find out if he and Sophia were back home from the hospital. He sure hoped they were.

  Passing by Square Deal Lumber Company, he saw Simon and stopped and told him what his mom had said. Simon was glad to hear it and reaffirmed that he would bring the bees boxes over the next afternoon. Cyn
thia rode up on her bike, and Ethan followed her to the park bench beside the fountain. He told her about what had happened to his friend’s mom.

  “That’s really sad,” said Cynthia. “I hope she’s going to be alright.”

  “Yeah, hopefully she will.”

  The two talked only briefly. Ethan was eager to get to Daniel’s house, and Cynthia had a birthday party to attend. He felt saddened and helpless when he found that no one was home. The house looked strangely abandoned. He wondered if he’d ever see Daniel again.

  Chapter 16

  With nowhere else to go, Ethan headed home. He tried to think of something creative to tell his mom but finally decided to just tell her the truth: Miss Green was going to be spending a few days at her nephew’s house. He didn’t necessarily have to tell her when he found this out. Hopefully she wouldn’t ask too many questions. Feeling somber as he slowly pedaled his bike, he remembered that Simon Green was going to be bringing the bee hives the next day, and his spirits lifted a bit. He felt confident that Simon would convince his mom of the virtues of bee keeping.

  His mood tanked again when he got home and saw Mike Kinsley’s car parked in the driveway. His mom hadn’t said much about Mike recently, so he’d hoped their romance had fizzled out. No such luck as that. They’d probably been seeing each other every night, kind of keeping it a secret. Nope, not in a mood to pretend to like that jerk today, he thought, deciding to try and smile long enough to make it to his room and shut the door.

  As though a knife had pierced his skull, he had a headache suddenly. An image from his reoccurring nightmare popped into his mind—the image of his dad without a face. The pain passed as quickly as it came, but he was left feeling lightheaded and sick to his stomach. Then a nearly overwhelming feeling of dread came over him, and his heart pounded in an almost panicked state. He couldn’t shake his faceless dad from his thoughts. From somewhere deep within him, he knew that he had arrived at the place where the dream had been taking him—a dark and lonely place.

  He heard yelling from within the house. His mom and Mike were in an argument, and it sounded like a big one. Struggling not to pass out, he dropped his bike and ran towards the house, determined to defend his mom and punch Mike out if he got a good chance. Hopefully this would be the end of that guy. He was actually glad to hear them not getting along, but for now he needed to get in the house and protect his mom.